New data suggests a growing optimism and more positive outlook for the mortgage market.
The latest Mortgage Market Tracker report from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association shows that intermediaries are keeping busy, with the average adviser placing 99 cases over the previous 12 months.
The figure is a small rise on the first quarter 2022 (an average of 97 cases) and only four cases off the peak of 103 in fourth quarter 2021.
Despite recent suggestions that the buy-to-let sector is struggling, the data also shows that this market is holding steady, with 28% of all cases handled in the buy-to-let space, up from 26% in the previous quarter.
Despite ongoing concern about the impact of rising interest rates, the report shows that confidence is returning to the mortgage market. Almost four out of five intermediaries (79%) said they are ‘confident’ about the outlook for the mortgage industry, up from just 65% in Q4.
Confidence in the intermediary sector is even more marked, with 87% saying they are ‘confident about the sector’s outlook’, a number almost on par with the level before last year’s mini-budget.
The average number of Decisions in Principle (DIPs) that intermediaries processed continued to fall in the first quarter, following a similar trend to the previous four quarters.
In Q1 2023, conversions from DIP to completion also fell to 34%, a 10% decline year-on-year. The fall in conversion rate was driven in the North (-3% compared to Q4 2022) and the Midlands (-4% compared to Q4), while conversions from DIP to completion in the South were the same as the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, the conversion rate from full application to completion remained relatively unchanged at 57%.
Kate Davies, Executive Director of IMLA, comments: “Given the recent uncertainty that we saw in the mortgage market in the final quarter of last year and at the start of 2023, these figures represent a positive shift. The growing confidence expressed by intermediaries is a strong signal that our sector is weathering current volatility”.
